Budget Negotiations
Floor Speech
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, like the majority leader, I was here the last time there was a government shutdown. I never believed it would reach that point. I certainly didn't believe it would be a long shutdown, but it turned out to be over 2 weeks before it was over. It was a period of profound embarrassment for all of both political parties who served in Congress that it had reached a point where our efforts to find common ground had failed, and we had basically failed by closing down the government and calling an end to basic government services.
The Senator from Florida went through a partial list. The list could go on and on. What about the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Men and women who risk their lives every day guarding the most dangerous people, what is to happen to them as we shut down the government? He raised questions about our efforts to monitor terrorist activities. Those efforts are not only exclusively among the military. He mentioned the intelligence-gathering operations of the United States. I don't think most people outside our walk of life have any idea how many men and women get up every single morning, monitoring transmissions of information, monitoring activity all around the world, looking for that one shred of evidence that there is something dangerous about to occur. These are Federal Government employees, subject in many respects, many of them, to a government shutdown.
In the Department of the Treasury is a foreign assets desk that monitors every single day the movement of money, looking for evidence of drug cartels and terrorist activities and criminal activity in the United States and around the world. They share that information with law enforcement at every level--State, local, and international--to keep us safe. These are Federal employees affected by a government shutdown. We just learned our Secretary of State is canceling a major conference on Tuesday, bringing in leaders from around Washington and the world to talk about critical issues, because of her fear that the Department of State will be shut down on Tuesday. We also know, in embassies all around the world, men and women literally risk their lives to be there representing the United States, offering their services for Americans and others in terrible circumstances, and they are going to be subject to a shutdown, skeleton crews.
We ask ourselves: Is this necessary? Have we reached a point where there is no alternative? The answer is there is an alternative. The alternative is for people of good will to come together and find common ground.
I am closer to the position of Senator Reid because I know, I have followed his conversations, his reports on the negotiations. I am certain of what I say. When it comes to the dollar amount for budget deficit reduction, we are virtually in agreement. The differences are minuscule. We have agreed on the amount of spending to be cut. That is no longer a matter of debate.
What happened in the last 24 hours is a dramatic shift away from the budget deficit discussion. Now Speaker John Boehner, who is my friend, on behalf of his caucus, is arguing it is no longer about the budget. It is no longer about the deficit. It is no longer about cutting spending. It is about a social agenda, some issues.
No. 1, Speaker Boehner insists we have to accept language from the House which says the Environmental Protection Agency will basically shut down its operations when it comes to certain environmental hazards such as greenhouse gas emissions. Some of us think that is a catastrophic decision, a disastrous decision. The House Republican caucus voted for it, the Republican majority. Now they are saying to us: Accept it.
Yesterday, we debated that issue. We debated it in the Senate for many hours. The Senator from Florida was here. We had four separate votes on the issue of taking the power away from the EPA. The first amendment offered received seven votes in the affirmative. The second one received seven votes in the affirmative. The third one received 12 votes in the affirmative. The fourth one failed with a 50-50 rollcall vote, offered by the Republican leader. Has the Senate spoken on this issue? It has. If I remember correctly, under the Constitution that both House and Senate Members are sworn to uphold, there are two Chambers. We disagree profoundly with the House Republican position. For Speaker Boehner to now insist that despite all the debate and activity, it is a ``take it or leave it'' on taking away the powers of the EPA is not only unreasonable, it is unfair and totally unrelated to the issue of budget deficit reduction.
But there is a second issue. The second issue, which I find hard to believe they are now making the fulcrum of the decision on whether we shut down the government, is whether we should shut down the access of people across America, particularly poor women and children, to primary health care in clinics. They have an amendment under title X which would basically stop the funding for access to private health clinics funded by that program. What kind of services do these clinics offer? They offer cancer screening, breast cancer screening, screening for infectious diseases. The basic care we provide to women and families across the country would be shut down by the provision the Republicans in the House insist we agree on if we want the government to stay open and do business. Is that what the last election was about? I missed that part. I missed the part where the tea party stood and said: We are for fiscal sanity, and we want to close down the access of women to basic health services. I don't remember that at all.
I welcome that debate. In the next hour or two or perhaps tomorrow morning, we are going to offer to the Republicans, if they want to debate on the floor that rider that is in the House approach, let's have the debate. Let's have the vote. It isn't as if we are ignoring it. We are prepared to face it and vote on it. I know what the outcome will be, and I think the Speaker knows as well. He is going to lose. So why are we allowing this ship of state to founder over two social issues, closing down the EPA's function and closing down women's access to health care?
That is where they are. It is no longer about the deficit. All the deficit hawks and all the speeches we have heard, that is over. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who think a government shutdown is a good thing politically. There was a statement printed in the Washington Post this week on April 5:
Republicans gave the speaker an ovation when he informed them ..... to begin preparing for a possible shutdown.
An ovation? So some people in that caucus apparently
believe a government shutdown is a good thing. Some of them, Congressman Pence of Indiana, has been forthright and direct. Let's shut it down, he says.
How do we answer the basic question posed so many times: What does that do to the reputation of the United States around the world, that our government is going to shut down? What does it do in terms of the state of our economy which is coming out of a recession, trying to put people back to work? We know what the predictions are. Any government shutdown will reduce economic growth at a time when we desperately need more economic growth and more jobs. The longer the shutdown goes on, the worse it is in terms of unemployment and economic growth. We also know that even though some Republicans in their caucus were cheering on the idea of a shutdown, basic services essential to the operation of this government and the safety of our Nation will be in peril and danger. People who literally give their lives in service to the country will be wondering from day to day and hour to hour whether we will continue to finance the government.
The clock runs out at midnight tomorrow night. Between now and then, I hope Speaker Boehner comes to his senses and appeals to his Republican caucus and tells them we cannot have everything. Take what we have, this cut in spending, this reduction in spending, which is a step in the right direction. I hope he will say it to even those who are cheering the idea of a government shutdown. It is not the right thing for America.
It is time for men and women of both political parties to stand and to represent the best in this country, to make the concessions that keep us moving forward. We have plenty of work to do beyond this. I am leaving here to go to a meeting to discuss a bipartisan approach to dealing with our budget problems way beyond the next 6 months. If we are going to create an environment for bipartisan cooperation, it does not start with a government shutdown. If there are any Republicans who believe this is a sound strategy, that somehow this will endear them to the American people, I think they are making a mistake. A shutdown could cost the government dearly, and it could certainly cost the United States in its reputation around the world. I don't want to see that occur.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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